Making the Right Thing the Easy Thing To Do

Articles of Interest: May 27, 2011

A weekly compilation of articles appearing in recently released journals and newsletters, including articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers, mentioning or discussing AHRQ staff, activities, and publications/products, or other research using AHRQ data or products.

This weekly compilation of articles appearing in recently released journals and newsletters includes:

Articles funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) or authored by AHRQ researchers.

Articles related to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force or Put Prevention into Practice program.

Articles mentioning the National Healthcare Disparities Report and National Healthcare Quality Report.

Other research using AHRQ data or products.

AHRQ-Funded/Authored Articles

AARC TimesClancy CM. Making the right thing the easy thing to do. AARC Times 2011 Feb; 35(2):36-42. [Author is AHRQ director; synopsizes keynote address given at the 56th AARC International Respiratory Congress in December, 2010.]

Mangione-Smith R, Schiff J, Dougherty D. Identifying children's health care quality measures for Medicaid and CHIP: an evidence-informed, publicly transparent expert process. Acad Pediatr 2011 May-Jun;11(3 Suppl):S11-21. [Third author is a researcher in AHRQ's Office of Extramural Research, Education, and Priority Populations and editor of special supplement on the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) Quality Measures Initiatives; describes the formation of the AHRQ National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality Subcommittee on Children's Healthcare Quality Measures for Medicaid and CHIP Programs (SNAC) and AHRQ's implementation of a quality measure nomination process.] Select to access the abstract.

Bethell CD, Kogan MD, Strickland BB. A national and state profile of leading health problems and health care quality for US children: key insurance disparities and across-state variations. Acad Pediatr 2011 May-Jun;11(3 Suppl):S22-S33. [Supported by contract HHSP2332009008001P and based on a previous report prepared under this contract.] Select to access the abstract.

Kuhlthau KA. Measures of availability of health care services for children. Acad Pediatr 2011 May-Jun;11(3 Suppl):S42-S48. [Supported by contract HHS0P0233200900701P and commissioned by the AHRQ SNAC; summarizes work done under the contract, including use of AHRQ's National Quality Measures Clearinghouse™ (NQMC) and Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) to identify measures; cites AHRQ's NHQR and NHDR, 2009.] Select to access the abstract.

Sternberg SB, Co JP Homer CJ. Review of quality measures of the most integrated health care settings for children and the need for improved measures: recommendations for initial core measurement set for CHIPRA. Acad Pediatr 2011 May-Jun;11(3 Suppl):S49-S58. [Supported by contract HHS0233200900799P and prepared by the National Initiative for Children's Health Quality; uses AHRQ's NQMC to identify relevant measures; describes and analyzes AHRQ's CAHPS® Health Plan Survey and makes comparisons with similar instruments.] Select to access the abstract.

deLone SE, Hess CA. Medicaid and CHIP children's healthcare quality measures: what states use and what they want. Acad Pediatr 2011 May-Jun;11(3 Suppl):S68-S76. [Supported by contracts HHS0P0233200900802P and and HHSP233200900781P.] Select to access the abstract.

Fairbrother G, Simpson LA. Measuring and reporting quality of health care for children: CHIPRA and beyond. Acad Pediatr 2011 May-Jun;11(3 Suppl):S77-S84. [Second author is former AHRQ deputy administrator; discusses implementation of CHIPRA provisions related to child quality measures by AHRQ and CMS; recommends that AHRQ and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) establish a Child Quality Corps to "train the workforce needed to meaningfully use measures and make these measures available to states on 1- or 2-year assignments" and that data supporting core measures be put into a national data structure, such as HCUP or CAHPS®; cites AHRQ publications, Initial Core Set of Children's Healthcare Quality Measures, 2009, and Request for Public Comment on Initial, Recommended Core Set of Children's Healthcare Quality Measures for Voluntary Use by Medicaid and CHIP Programs, 2009.] Select to access the abstract.

Greene-McIntyre M, Caldwell C. State Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program's perspective on CHIPRA core measures. Acad Pediatr 2011 May-Jun;11(3 Suppl):S89-S90. [Discusses the development of the CHIPRA core set of quality measures and the work of the SNAC; acknowledges assistance from AHRQ researcher and supplement editor Denise Dougherty.]

Mann C. A new era for state Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs. Acad Pediatr 2011 May-Jun;11(3 Suppl):S95-S96. [Mentions the establishment of the initial set of child health quality measures under CHIPRA and the development of new measures under the AHRQ-sponsored National Pediatric Quality Measures Program of grants and contracts.]

CirculationBufalino VJ, Masoudi FA, Stranne SK, et al. The American Heart Association's recommendations for expanding the applications of existing and future clinical registries: a policy statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation 2011 May 17; 123(19):2167-79. Briefly summarizes the contents and coverage of AHRQ publication, Registries for Evaluating Patient Outcomes: A User's Guide, 2nd ed., 2010 (prepared by the Outcome DEcIDE Center under contract HHSA290200510351-TO3), and highlights five of the guide's tables in the Appendix; notes that AHRQ and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute "have solicited applications for funding for comparative effectiveness research and for the infrastructure to support such investigation;" notes receipt of previous AHRQ grant support by three of the authors.]

International Journal of the Economics of BusinessTown R. The effects of US hospital consolidations on hospital quality: a comment. Int J Econ Bus 2011 Feb; 18(1):127-31. [Comments on article by Mutter, Romano, and Wong (Int J Econ Bus, 2011) cited in AHRQ-Funded/Authored Articles.]

Medical Decision MakingHelfand M. Independence and Medical Decision Making. Med Decis Making 2011 May-Jun; 31(3):373-75. [Includes table that lists three special issues of the journal sponsored by AHRQ since 2005.]

American Family PhysicianCME quiz. Am Fam Physician 2011 May 15; 83(10):1153-5. [Includes questions based on USPSTF recommendations on screening for family and intimate partner violence, screening for speech and language delay in preschool children, and screening for osteoporosis (as discussed in the next three articles cited below in this section.]

Croswell J. Screening for osteoporosis. Am Fam Physician 2011 May 15; 83(10):1201-2. [Author is a medical officer supporting the USPSTF program at AHRQ; uses USPSTF recommendations on screening for osteoporosis (see USPSTF article cited above in this section) as the basis for the case study and associated questions.]

Evidence-based Practice Centers-Related Articles

Academic PediatricsPerrin JM, Dewitt TG. Future of academic general pediatrics—areas of opportunity. Acad Pediatr 2011 May-Jun;11(3):181-8. [Briefly discusses AHRQ's EPC program and its "attention to quality of evidence" and "working to systematize the development and review of evidence;" cites AHRQ publications, National Health Care Expenses in the U.S. Civilian Non-Institutionalized Population, 2007, MEPS Statistical Brief 272, 2009, and Trends in Health Care Expenditures for Children Under Age 18: 2006 Versus 1996, MEPS Statistical Brief 253, 2009; cites AHRQ-authored article by Forrest, Simpson, and Clancy (second and third authors are former AHRQ deputy director and current AHRQ director, respectively) (JAMA, 1997).

Internet Citation: Making the Right Thing the Easy Thing To Do: Articles of Interest: May 27, 2011.
May 2011. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/newsroom/articles-of-interest/052711.html